Kumam Davidson

Coming from an experience of working with women, queer, trans folks in an armed conflict setting and marginalised communities, I am interested in engaging with the ideas of marginality, solidarity and allyship with reference to the works of Matai Society. Marginality informs the work Matai does; economically, socially, politically, geographically and that marginality being further complicated by a never-ending armed conflict, decades of political instabilities, human rights violations and a largely undocumented people’s response to it. The works of Matai has been founded on queer trans and women leadership in a militarized, patriarchal ethnically volatile society. This leadership is a paradigm shift for us. Furthermore, the solidarities and allyship both within and outside the state have grown and those are stories to be highlighted in the session (The Collective Trust-Matai [ Mental health works], Mahei-iHEAR [mental health informed Livelihood work], Teepoi-Matai (an attempt), Snehadhara Foundation - Matai; a Fellowship). Most of these conversations, processes happen in networks, circles and spaces whose accessibility and participation maybe limited. We believe in making this more inclusive by passing on the mike, opening up the spaces to “locals” and “migrants” alike, “artists” and “activists”, “funders” and “grassroot communities”. We advocate for cross-intersectional participation.